Clothes lines



A. R. LOWE CLOTHES LINES Jan. 3, 1967 Filed March 30, 1966 INVENTOR:

ALAN R.LOWE

av 7 .2mm 'PJa ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,295,693 CLOTHES LINES Alan R. Lowe, 30 Station Road, Colwyn Bay, North Wales Filed Mar. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 538,668 6 Claims. (Cl. 211119.13)

This invention is concerned with clothes lines for the hanging out of washing and for like purposes, usually by housewives.

The normal clothes line, whether of cord or synthetic plastic material or a covered metal wire, requires the use of a plurality of clothes pegs for the fastening of the washed articles thereto. These pegs often become lost, they are sometimes broken by being steped upon, or from other causes, and they require the provision of a retainer or receptacle for holding them when not actually in use. Furthermore they frequently have an insufficient grip on the pegged articles so that in strong winds etc. the articles may become loosened from the line.

Various proposals have been made for improving clothes pegs as such, but none of them has been fully satisfactory, most of the pegs being fragile, or seperable into component parts, or having an insufficient grip both for thick and thin articles, and many of them have been non-resistant to severe weather conditions.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a means for hanging out washing and for the like purposes which dispenses with the necessity of separate clothes pegs as normally understood and therefore avoids all the difficulties and hindrances referred to above.

According to this invention, a clothes line is made of a flexible material to a cross-section which periodically increases and reduces in diameter, each region of increasing diameter carrying a ring captive thereon and adapted to become tightened thereon when moved axially.

In some arrangements the line may have the appearance of a succession of cones partly telescoped each into the next, and each cone is provided with a ring imprisoned thereon, the ring being a loose fit at the smaller end of the cone but not large enough normally to pass over the larger end of the cone. By this means, with a ring placed loosely at the smaller ends of a cone, a corner of a washed article to be suspended may easily be passed through the ring and the ring then be pushed along the cone until it becomes jammed on the line with the article trapped between it and the line. Thereafter, any pull on the article, say due to a strong wind, merely tends to pull the ring further along the cone if the article has been threaded through the ring correctly (i.e. from the larger end of the cone) and thereby increases the gripping effect of the ring on the line.

According to a further feature of the invention, the rings are provided with one or more extensions or ears to provide finger grips whereby they may be more easily manipulated from the tight to the loose and from the loose to the tight positions. The rings may be of a fiat section so as to provide adequate area of contact with the articles being suspended, or they may comprise a single coil or a plurality of coils e.g. of wire, and they may if desired be lined with a resilient material so as to provide a resilient grip or squeezing effect on the articles being pegged out.

In some forms of the invention the larger part of each conical portion ends in a sharp corner providing a radial shoulder but, in some other forms the end of each larger part may be rounded, the main requirement being that for each ring-carrying length of the line there should be Patented. Jan. 3, 1967 a small-diameter end on which the ring is a substantial loose fit, and a larger part at or near the other end over which the ring will not pass.

The improved clothes line, may be extruded from a continually expanding and contracting die which will give the variation of cross section, or they may be rolled between rollers whilst in a thermoplastic state, the rollers being formed with annular grooves shaped to bring the rolled material into the desired contour. The rings may be of metal or other suitable material and may be complete rings threaded on to the line whilst it is thermoplastic and is soft enough to allow the rings to pass over its parts of larger diameter, or they maybe coiled on to the respective cones in a coiling machine, or may be otherwise provided, for example as split rings to be snapped over the respective tapering parts of the line laterally.

According to another feature of the invention, the surface of those parts of the line which are of increasing diameter and are to be gripped by the rings may be serrated, say with annular or axial serrations or with helical serrations, or with cross-cross formations or the like to give a slip-resistant surface but this is probably not necessary.

It is important that the articles to be suspended be threaded through the rings from the larger end of the cones so that any pull on them will tend to tighten the rings on to them and on to the cones.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example only, with reference to the accommpanying diagram with drawings which illustrate several embodiments, thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section taken through a clothes line constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section of the clothes line of FIG. 1 in use; and

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of one form of clamping ring.

Referring now to the drawings a clothes line 11 is made from a thermoplastic synthetic material, and is so formed as to present an annular and radially directed shoulder 12 between successive elongated conical portions 13, and includes also on each such portion a captive ring 14 movement of which axially of the line is limited, on the one hand by the said shoulder and on the other hand by the increased diameter of the line material itself.

The surface of the line will be roughened, as at 16 in the drawings, so as to give a longer resistance to slip, or alternatively provided with serrations, or criss-cross lines.

The rings 14 may be of a resiliently extensible material, for example rubber or a suitable synthetic material, or alternatively, formed from metal and subsequently coated with a rubbery or synthetic material to increase their frictional grip on the articles being pegged out. Two lips 15 are provided on the ring, the said lips being formed integrally therewith and being diametrically opposed thereon.

It can be seen that in using the clothes line no separate pegs are required, no storage for pegs is necessary, the rings cannot drop off and be trodden on and broken, and, if they are properly used they have an automatic gripping effect on the articles being suspended.

I claim:

1. A clothes line of a flexible material having a crosssection which periodically increases and reduces in dimension, each region of increasing dimension carrying a ring captive thereon and adapted to become tightened thereon when moved axially.

2. A clothes line as claimed in claim 1 wherein each region is of truncated conical form.

r 3 5 3. A clothes line as claimed in claim 1 wherein a References Cited by the Examiner radially directed annular shoulder is provided between UNITED STATES PATENTS successlve regions.

4. A clothes line as claimed in claim 1 wherein each 1,360,189 9 Cushlng v 211-11913 region includes at least a part thereof having a surface of 5 2,989,191 6/1961 Eason 211113 high frictional resistance.

5. A clothes line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the ring FOREIGN PATENTS is of a resiliently extensible material. 1,069,245 11/ 1959 Germany.

6. A clothes line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the 1,020,662 2/ 1966 Great Britain.

ring has one or more lips thereto arranged to facilitate 10 movement of the ring axially of the line. CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CLOTHES LINE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL HAVING A CROSSSECTION WHICH PERIODICALLY INCREASES AND REDUCES IN DIMENSION, EACH REGION OF INCREASING DIMENSION CARRYING A RING CAPTIVE THEREON AND ADAPTED TO BECOME TIGHTENED THEREON WHEN MOVED AXIALLY. 